by U
The world became blurry as Madison choked on milkshake. Breathing became difficult. Her lungs burned for air as she coughed up what had gone down the wrong pipe. She blinked back tears as Alec pounded and rubbed her back.
“Never say that again. Ever,” she rasped out.
Alec chuckled. “OK, maybe the Daddy thing was pushing it. But you know you want him to do the other stuff, including spankings.”
Madison’s ass warmed at the thought and her vaginal walls fluttered, but she refused to give him an answer. Instead, she focused on Lea. “You’re going to drag me to that event, aren’t you?”
Lea grinned. “Of course, babe. And if you’re good we may even buy you a hunk so you can get laid.”
Alec brought his hand to his chest. “Can you buy me a hunk? I won’t even promise to be good.”
Madison coughed again. “Traitors, the both of you. You don’t love me.”
Lea squeezed her shoulder. “Of course we love you. Enough to want to get you laid, even if it can’t be with Mr. Rugged himself.”
Madison burst out laughing. “You both are dorks. I’ll make a donation but I won’t bid. Besides, I don’t need to get laid. I have Bob to keep me company. Who needs a man?”
Lea and Alec shrugged. “Well, we’ll get you one anyway,” Alec said.
“I hate you both. Now are you going to finish those fries or can I have some?” She pointed to the plate in front of Alec, hoping the change in subject would work.
It didn’t. The focus was just shifted to Alec.
“OK, why exactly do we need to bring you to the bachelor auction?” Lea said. “You’re a gorgeous and charming man, you own your own home, you’re a professor, and did I mention you’re gorgeous?”
“Anyway, enough stoking your ego,” Madison said in another attempt to change the subject. “How’s your mom? I’ve been meaning to stop by and see her.”
Alec raised a hand and signaled for another round of pints. He slid his empty stein back and forth between his hands, with his eyes downcast and his lips a thin line.
“Alec?” Madison reached over, placed a hand over his, and gave it a small squeeze. “What’s wrong?”
He looked up, brown eyes filled with a sadness so deep and strong it made Madison’s heart ache. Worry for him drove away any thoughts of the auction or Pierce.
“Alec, you can tell us.” Madison looked over at Lea, hoping her friend would say something, but Lea just looked away. What was going on? Did they know something she didn’t? Why weren’t they telling her?
Alec took in a shuddering breath. “It’s my Mam. She’s sick. Really sick. We’re doing everything we can for her but still…She was the first person to accept me when I came out.”
The sound of Alec’s voice tore at Madison’s insides as her heart picked up speed. She gripped his wrist and gave it a squeeze. “I don’t know what to say but I won’t patronize you by saying it’s going to be OK. I will say we’re going to be here for you. Whatever you need, we’re here.”
Madison looked over at Lea who still wasn’t looking at Alec. “Lea?”
Lea looked at them, pain in her brown eyes, tears showing in the corners. “I’m so sorry, Alec,” she sniffled. “I know what you’re going through, my gram is also ill.”
The bottom of Madison’s world fell out all over again as memories of the hospital returned. The loud, obnoxious beeping of the machines that were hooked up to her father. His waxy countenance. The noxious smell of cleaning solution and medicine all around. So many people in white coats who could do nothing for him. Her mother looking so frail by her father’s bedside. It had taken everything in Madison not to run away from the claustrophobic space.
She took in a shuddering breath to break the spell of the past. She reached out and took hold of Lea’s hand, trying to ignore the tremble that ran down her arm.
“I’m here for you both.” Her throat tried to tighten and a lump began to form.
Just how much had she missed over the last few months, while she helped her father with his business, while he got back on his feet after his heart attack? They were still taking things slow, but he was getting stronger and stronger each day and getting more back into the swing of things. He was even healthy enough to bark out orders and go out to the football matches. At last, Madison could go back to her life, whatever that was. Now that she had more time on her hands, she could give her support to her friends.
“Things will be fine. Your gram is getting the best care the witches can offer. It won’t do for us to go moping. That’s negative energy that they don’t need. Now where is that waitress with our beer?”
Madison looked away from her friends to wipe away some unshed tears. She spotted their server, who was engaged at another table. “I’m going to get us our drinks. You stay here and stop moping. Drool over the bachelors if you must. Just don’t tell me the details.”
Madison released Lea’s hand and hoped that her suggestion would help. She knew that her own words were just platitudes and that there was nothing she could say that would truly drive away the worries that Lea and Alec were experiencing, but it was all she could offer them at the moment.
The day had been a long one, and emotionally she was spent. Her well was just starting to fill up with energy again after her father—and now this. Part of her was angry at fate for hitting her friends during a time when she couldn’t do much to support them. Then she cursed herself for feeling sorry for herself when her friends needed her.
Alec and Lea looked at each other, lascivious grins on their faces.
“We can do that.” Alec turned the computer around to face their side of the table.
Relief swept through Madison. Her play had worked. She only shook her head at them and headed up to the bar.
She placed their orders and turned around to gaze out over the room. There wasn’t much of a crowd. The TV behind her told her that everyone was at the inaugural game of the first ever Elemental Football League. She had no clue what the difference was between regular soccer and this kind, except for the abilities of the players, but she wasn’t really interested in it. Not like her father. Or Pierce.
Madison had heard rumors that there were some humans who wanted to make the switch for the challenge of playing against paranormals. Pierce would be over the moon at this development. She tried to ignore the bloom of heat in her stomach at the thought of Pierce. He was off limits.
With a sigh, she turned to check the status of her order. The stench of sweat wafted toward her, making her stomach squeeze and her lunch try to make a break for it. Madison swallowed and tried not to breathe.
“Oi, more beer over here!” the man next to her bellowed. The stench became more intense. A smell that was somewhere between rotten eggs and shit assaulted her nose. The man yelled again. This time the sour odor of old coffee joined with the scent he gave off. “More beer! Move your arses!”
The man pounded a meaty fist on the bar top, causing the glasses to shake.
Madison cringed at the volume. Her ears rang from the sound of his voice. The man yelled his demand again.
Unable to hold back, Madison gritted out, “Wait your turn. There’s no need to act like an asshole.”
She gave the man her best don’t-fuck-with-me glare. Her lioness wanted to rip the piece of filth a new one. She smelled the scent of bear shifter as an undercurrent to the eau de alcohol, sweat, and old java cologne that made her stomach roil even more.
The man leered at her. He narrowed his bright blue eyes down to slits. “Well, aren’t you a cute little thing.”
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and slammed his glass down on the tabletop. With a surprising quickness, he wrapped his arms around her middle and picked her up. Alcoholic fumes, greasy food, BO, and his sour breath assaulted Madison’s face as he exhaled.
She turned her face away and tried to ignore the bile burning its way up the back of her throat as her stomach revolted. The man’s grip tightened to the point of pain, his
hold squeezing the air out of her lungs. Her food began to make its way up her throat.
Madison wriggled as best she could. Her vision blurred. Sweat beaded along her brow, and the room grew hotter. Panic shuddered through her body as energy rippled along her limbs and hot waves of electricity whirled around her torso. Her pulse doubled as her blood flow slowed. An ache began to pound over her left eyebrow. She whimpered and tried to move. A hard ridge rubbed against her ass. More bile burned up her spine, and she let out a gasp as chunks of food filled her mouth.
The lioness screamed in her head. More heat poured into her body. The air around her was suddenly full of feline musk and lemongrass. Pain quaked through her hands as the change began. Fur rippled under her skin, and her body began to condense in size.
Madison squirmed in the bear shifter’s arms and pushed against his chest, trying to get away without resorting to violence. But the longer he held her, the less likely it was that that was going to happen. Her lioness didn’t appreciate being trapped against this man. Madison resisted the urge to claw his eyes out, even as her lioness roared for her to do just that.
The man loosened his grip, and Madison managed to pull in a deep breath, large enough to demand, “Put me down, jerk!”
A loud booming laugh was all she got in response, as well as more of his disgusting breath in her face. He gave her midsection another squeeze and jiggled her around like a doll, jostling her stomach contents all over again. “Look at you, trying to be a big lady.”
Anger boiled deep inside her, and the emotion built with each second that passed. She spat out the food that had managed to come up and allowed the change to take over. The lioness pushed its power through her body, filling her with strength. The shift surged through her in earnest now, unimpeded by her refusal to hurt her attacker. Lava seared along her arms as splinters of pain filled her fingers. She let out a hiss. Her teeth became sharp and pointed.
She pulled back and slashed at the man with her newly formed claws. Fur rippled along her arms under her blouse. Her body became a feline-human hybrid, the top half transformed into a lioness.
She managed to stop the change before it took over her body completely. A wild, angry lioness loose in the pub was not going to get her, Lea, and Alec invited back again. The lioness wanted to rip the bear apart and make an example of him, but she managed to hold back.
Whatever the man saw didn’t impress him much. All she got for her trouble was more of that vociferous laugh and putrid breath. With a roar, she scratched at his face. The human side of her didn’t want to harm him too much, just get him to release her, but the tang of blood mingled with beer and sweat and her feline senses came alive as the metallic scent burned into her nose. She could feel saliva pooling in her mouth; her feline was making another desperate surge for control. Madison fought the beast. Not here; not now.
Threads of her control began to fray with each second that she remained trapped in his unwanted embrace. She struggled and continued to thrash, her claws and hands becoming bathed in hot, slippery blood. She let out another roar as hunger boiled in her gut, filling her body with a prickling fire that sparked through her veins, filled her arms and legs, and swirled around her torso. Her vision sharpened until she could see the depth of the wounds she’d inflicted on him, the dirty smudges of a beard on his chubby cheeks.
The bear shifter’s blue eyes filled with pain and fiery anger. His lips were a thin, white line. He let out a growl and squeezed her tighter.
Her head felt heavy. Her skin grew cold despite the heat whirling in her body. It became difficult to hold up her skull as the air around her thinned. She tried to take a small gasp of air, only to have needles burn through her lungs. In the distance, her lioness screamed and slashed at the thin walls that separated it from the outside world.
A scent drifted toward her, familiar yet out of place. Darkness edged her vision as she gave up the last vestiges of her humanity to the feline. A wild, feral scream sounded behind her, cutting through the swathe of darkness that threatened to take her under. A chill played down her spine, sending ice freezing through her veins.
The lioness stopped and stared. The shift halted as the creature tried to discern what was going on. A familiar cologne swirled around her as heat bloomed yet again in her belly and her stomach muscles clenched. A sudden, sexual heat flooded her groin.
Shit.
Madison’s consciousness came alive from the energy pouring into her, not from the lioness but someone else—a very angry someone else. She prayed that it wasn’t who she thought it was. She prayed that either Lea had shifted into her cougar form or Alec had become a half-horseman. She offered up that futile prayer to whatever gods were listening, and another scream pierced the air behind her.
The lioness joined the fray and screamed out her own anger. She lifted her head up and looked over her shoulder in time to see Pierce. His blue eyes were glacial and flashing, his fingers already turned into claws. Whiskers and thick, inky-black stripes had blossomed on his face. Snowy-white fur obscured his rugged features.
The scent of tiger musk hit Madison like a punch to the gut, and she moaned as fire pulsed in her veins, kicking her heartbeat up a few notches. Panting, she opened her mouth to tell him to back off. This was her fight, dammit, and she could damn well handle herself. But the words refused to reach her tongue. All she could do was stare at the sexual potency and predatory power of the tiger shifter.
“Put. Down. My. Mate.” Pierce’s voice was a quiet, guttural caress that sharpened Madison’s senses and made her body come alive with heat and power.
The bear only shook her and guffawed. “Mine now, cat boy. Want her? Come get her.”
Pierce bellowed and rushed forward to lash out with a sure strike. The sickening scent of fresh blood permeated the air. Madison felt nauseous and her lioness clawed to join the fray. There was nothing it wanted more than to break the bastard’s hold on her and spill more blood.
She looked down and watched as deep gashes opened on her captor’s arm, causing him to scream in pain. His arms opened, releasing her at last from his hold. She scrambled into a position from which she could launch herself at him, but there wasn’t anything left to be done. He was cradling his arm as blood spilled in rivulets between his fingers. Even with his shifter powers, he didn’t seem to be healing. People held back an enraged Pierce, who was struggling to break free of their holds, roaring the whole time.
It looked as though she might have to take on Pierce to keep him from attacking the guy once more. More and more bar patrons arrived to push him back as he let out another scream. The musk of pissed-off tiger filled the air, causing the dank perfume of fear to spike in the room. The crowd managed to hold him back, but only just.
“Pierce, calm down,” Madison prayed her voice would get through to him.
He stilled for a moment and then continued to fight with renewed strength. There was no security to be seen. The patrons who weren’t busy holding Pierce back were distracted by the countdown to the game on the flat screens mounted on the walls. They sipped their beer, talked, and laughed, as if this were an everyday occurrence.
Madison sighed. “Shifters,” she muttered.
With blue eyes blazing, Pierce let out another roar. Sweat ran down his body in rivers, soaking his shirt. His body shook as anger contorted his face into a horrible mask of pure hate. His nostrils flared and his whiskers twitched. Thankfully, the bear shifter had been led away. But he had left a scent of fear and blood in his wake. Droplets of dark red created a sickening, splattered path out the door.
Pierce continued to struggle, chest heaving. Blood stained his jeans and the sleeve of his shirt. Ruby spots decorated his face. Rage emanated from him, hitting Madison in waves that twisted her banked arousal into a combination of disgust, anger, and need. Her heart pounded against her rib cage in an erratic drumbeat as her pulse ticked upward. Her senses sharpened as she pulled back the shift until she was fully human again. Only then did she start
to approach him.
She waded into the crowd, which parted willingly, until she stood in front of him. Taking in his features, she could see a small glimmer of the man she was attracted to, but he was almost all gone. His gaze showed nothing but pent-up anger and rage.
Such arrogance he had. She pulled back her arm and brought it forward, slapping him so hard his head snapped to the side and she heard a small crack.
A growl came at her as he turned his head slowly back at her. His blue eyes were now the color of the midnight sky, flecked with bits of blue so cold they were like the heart of a glacier. The palm of her hand heated and pulsed. She ignored the pain as more heat cascaded in her body, taking her by surprise. The feeling shoved away all other emotion as his eyes burned with incredible intensity.
Fire surged in her veins and wove through her muscles. Liquid arousal filled her womb, which pulsed in time with her heartbeat. Blood pooled in her groin, turning her labia puffy and her clit into a hardened bud. Desire threatened to swathe her brain completely. She’d never gotten off on violence before. The sensation was new, but she shoved it aside to focus on trying to get through to the man.
She focused on the scene in front of her. Pierce had stilled. The anger and rage began to retreat, like a wave moving outward to sea. His feline musk began to lighten, and the fur and whiskers faded away to nothing. He shook his head like a dog shaking off water. All that remained of his tiger nature were thread-thin stripes. His eyes lightened to ice blue, but a small spark of passion remained.
“Bloody hell.” He jerked out of the hold of the bar patrons. His anger and desire had dissipated, but the musk of tiger still remained, as did a hint of fear. He paced back and forth until Madison felt the steady beat of calm.
Pierce stopped and turned toward her. Concern filled his face. He shook his head again before moving closer to her, bringing with him the masculine scent of spice and musk.
